I have two cats, one of them is overweight. How do I restrict her food without restricting my other cat's food?

Multi-pet households are a challenge for those families who have pets who have specific dietary requirements such as overweight pets, fussy eaters or those with prescription diets. Unfortunately for both cats, the times of unrestricted grazing throughout the day are over. Your household needs a new feeding routine. Firstly measure the full daily amount of food required for each cat into their own specific containers. Check with your veterinary healthcare team on the exact amount you should be feeding.

When it is time to feed, we suggest separating cats into different rooms. This way you can give each cat a portion of their daily food allowance and ensure they do not swap food bowls. Leave your cats to dine for approximately 30 minutes, some fussy eaters may require longer. Once both cats have had adequate time to dine store their food bowls and containters until the next feeding time. You can continue to feed your cats multiple times throughout the day according to their own preferences. If other members of your family are involved in the feeding process, just make sure the bowls and containers are clearly labelled or are easily identified.

If your cats will not eat alone, then fully supervised feeding times will be required.

It's a good idea to keep overweight cats active. There are some fantastic toys and household items you can purchase to entice her from the couch. Look for toys she can chase such as the light from a laser pen, a teaser toy, or the end of a piece of string. Look also for things she can bat such as soft balls and also for things she can explore such as cardboard boxes. If your cats don't already have one, a scratching post is a wonderful piece of equipment to keep your cat amused. Just make sure whatever toy or item you choose to amuse your cat are not too small to swallow and are used under supervision.